Top venture capital influencers on Twitter

Social networks have emerged in recent years as a strategically important tool for building and extending relationships in a rapidly evolving technology space. Venture capital (VC) firms, and investors in general, have taken to social networks, particularly Twitter, to articulate their visions, connect with tech thought leaders and increase their visibility among a new generation of entrepreneurs. As we compiled list of influencers in the fintech, blockchain and other emerging technology spaces, it became evident that VCs and a variety of other investors were ranking prominently on many of these lists. So, it made sense to compile a list of top VC influencers on Twitter.

Venture capital: use cases for an influencer list

Identifying venture capital influencers can be useful to a variety of people for a variety of reasons. Here are some obvious use cases for this list:

Staying informed – You are a person interested in technology-based businesses and want to stay on top of key developments and trends in the space.

Knowledge of VC industry – You’re an entrepreneur or senior executive and want to familiarize yourself with the main VCs investing in key industries.

Investing – You’re an accredited investor and want to following the thinking of other top notch investors.

Competitive intelligence – You’re a VC yourself and want to keep an eye on what your competitors are up to.

Looking for sources – You’re a journalist or blogger looking for story ideas and credible sources for comment.

Looking for diversity – You are interested in diversity and, just out of curiosity, are wondering which female and non-white VCs made the most influential list.

Buy or sell a company – You’re looking to acquire or be acquired and want to learn about interesting new companies.

Important note: Not all people on this list are VCs, but all are influential around the topics of venture capital and tech investing, in general. Like all influence lists, you will find journalists, other types of investors, and business leaders who are in influential roles. The definition of an influencer is broad: anyone who a group of influencers follow in numbers is also an influencer.

Notes on methodology

As always, it’s important to clarify the methodology that has been used to compiled this list – in order to clarify what it represents and what it doesn’t. We use a social analytics tool called Little Bird to crunch the data, then filtered the results to focus on influencers who are also PERSONS, rather than ORGANIZATIONS. What is critical to note, and often overlooked, is that we DO NOT CHOOSE who is on the list and who is not (other than the persons/organizations distinction mentioned above). The Little Bird algorithm does this. It is possible that there are some bonafide venture capital influencers that do not appear on the list. We welcome any suggestions or inquiries in this regard. Also, as mentioned above, there may also be people on the list that are not narrowly defined as VCs, but are being followed by many many of the top VC influencers. Influence is highly contextual and the product of multiple factors. The specific numeric ranking above is not as important as the general order in which people and organizations appear on the list. If someone is in the top 10 or top 25 on this list, they likely have greater online reach and following among other VC influencers than someone who ranks lower on the list. However, collectively, these influencers represent considerable targeted audience and authority in topics related to venture capital and technology investments. For more information on how this type of influencer list can be used by you or your business, check out How to use an influencer list. We welcome any feedback and/or suggestions.